


Doubled Pawns

by RunFromTheMedic



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Duel Monsters (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Blood and Violence, Character Death, Fluff, Gen, Gods, I'll add more as I go, Magic, Siblings, Twins, abused kids, cursed items, magic animals, schemes, unwanted divine intervention
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-13
Updated: 2020-10-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:09:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,937
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23624395
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RunFromTheMedic/pseuds/RunFromTheMedic
Summary: If they had known accepting those gifts from their grandmother would end with them as the god's chess pieces, the package would have been immediately dumped into the nearest river. - multiple oc's. AU.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	1. King's Gambit

**Author's Note:**

  * For [NordicTwin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/NordicTwin/gifts), [C_S_Stars](https://archiveofourown.org/users/C_S_Stars/gifts).



> Author's Note: Not my usual fandom but this story idea's been in my head for a while after reading another fic that has become one of my favorites. 
> 
> Update schedule for this or anything else I have is unknown. I work in healthcare so saying things are crazy where I live would be putting it mildly. 
> 
> Enjoy, stay safe, and for the love of Ra wash your hands.

**Chapter 1: King's Gambit**

* * *

_**The King's Gambit is a chess opening that begins with the moves: 1. e4 e5 2. f4 White offers a pawn to divert the black e-pawn. If Black accepts the gambit, White has two main plans. The first is to play d4 and Bxf4, regaining the gambit pawn with central domination.** _

* * *

Sabah was going to kill them. She was going to kill _everyone_ involved in her department starting with her TA's – one in particular – and then she was going to kill herself.

Smashing her face into the mess of papers strewn across her makeshift desk, Sabah hardly noticed - or cared - as her pen stabbed a hole in her notebook and started bleeding ink all over her notes.

Why in the name of Thoth did she think becoming a college student would be a good idea?

This was _hell_.

The closer it got to the holidays the less brain cells the other students in her class decided to use, the more the papers and assignments they were assigned to do piled up, and to top it all off she was basically doing the latest group project on her own.

Add in Ewan Moore almost daily finding of her and interrupting her work for completely _asinine_ reasons instead of doing his _own_ work like he should be doing – he was a TA, he shouldn't have the fucking _time_ to be this social, she wanted her grades back damnit – she was ready to tear her hair out.

Or break down crying.

It was a toss-up most days.

So far she was settling for option three and hiding out in one of the store rooms for the South and Inner Asia part of the Oriental Studies department.

She'd originally tried the numerous coffee shops and libraries around Oxford, but Ewan apparently frequented them _all the Nile damned time_.

(She was one of the better students in the program, having a leg up in the fact that she was a nerd who considered her chosen topic of study her favorite pastime.

Add in her father and older brother who had Doctorates in Egyptology and who were more than happy to share their love and obsession with the rest of the family and she was practically living and breathing Ancient Egypt.

If Ewan wanted to get on good terms with her father and brother so badly why didn't he just talk to _them_ instead of wasting her time?)

So, storerooms.

The lighting sucked in these places and the various crates gave her splinters, but at least here there wasn't a cat demanding attention and sitting on her laptop.

She loved her baby to pieces, but Toka just wouldn't let her work in peace at home because he wanted pets.

And she was _weak_.

Sabah didn't _want_ to be working and as soon as Toka hopped in her lap, she would cave like wet tissue paper to his demand for pets and end up doing _nothing_.

Which was sounding _really_ tempting right about now.

Putting her pen aside Sabah began rhythmically thumping her head onto her makeshift desk in time to her already pounding head to try and banish those thoughts and, hopefully, relieve some of her pent-up stress.

No such luck.

Was it possible to die from stress at twenty-two? Her family didn't have any history of heart disease, but a heart-attack felt very probable in her immediate future if her group didn't start _contributing_ to this damn project with more than copy-and-paste answers from their textbook for their final case study of the semester.

Add in the amount of caffeine she was downing to stay awake and work on the rest of her papers she was surprised her heart hadn't given out yet.

As it was, she was a twitching mess, like a junky looking for their next fix.

…Maybe she needed a nap.

Maybe.

Just a small one.

Sabah frowned blearily down at her notes, ink swimming in and out of focus, before letting her head fall down again with a loud thump.

Scratch that, she _definitely_ needed a nap.

She could just climb into a crate and sleep, out of sight in some place nice and dark where no one would be able to find her.

Or in a sarcophagus.

A sarcophagus sounded better, they were longer and more human shaped than a crate.

Cozy.

They had replicas of ancient sarcophagi in her departments' storeroom.

Her jacket would make a decent enough pillow if she bunched it up with her scarf.

The South and Inner Asia department probably wouldn't miss a few of the replicas of the clothing for the time period so she could have a nice enough blanket.

She'd sleep for an hour or two then get back to work.

Yes, that sounded nice.

"You look like your brain's about to spill out of your ears, Miss Sabah."

Shifting slightly to the side Sabah gave the amused looking janitor a flat look, unable to stop her left eye from twitching slightly as she squinted.

"My brain stopped working about a week ago. It wouldn't be that great of a loss."

"But it would be one more mess for me to clean up," the janitor told her mournfully, eyes going wide and watery as his bottom lip stuck out, "You wouldn't do that to me, would you Miss Sabah? Not this close to the holidays?" Sabah's face went even flatter.

"My cat pulls that off better than you."

The watery eyes disappeared immediately as the janitor clicked his tongue in annoyance.

"Beaten again by fuzzy animals. I'm losing my touch."

"You're nearly sixty. The closest thing you can get to cute at this point is senility."

His face spasmed like he'd bitten into a lemon.

"Sarcasm doesn't suit you, Miss Sabah." James muttered dryly. Pulling herself upright Sabah stuck her nose in the air, tossing her braided hair over a shoulder for good measure as she adopted the most snobbish voice she could muster.

Coincidentally, it sounded suspiciously similar to one of her group mates.

"But James, what else would brighten the monotony of your day if not for me and my razor wit?"

"Vacuuming first thing Monday morning while all the hungover students cringe in agony." James replied, wry humor twisting his face up into a smile. A moment later all humor was replaced by seriousness. "Still, I think it's best if you went home for the day, Miss Sabah. You have that look in your eyes again."

Eyebrows furrowed "What look?"

"The same look you had right before I found you on the floor not half an hour later crumbling a granola bar into pieces and crying hysterically." Sabah flushed.

"That was one time!"

"And I would like to keep it that way." James told her firmly, "You're one of my favorite students on this campus, Miss. I would hate for the stress to kill you."

"It's not the stress that's going to kill me," She whined, draping herself over her notes again so she could bury her head in her arms. "Why are all my group mates so lazyyy? Whyyyy?"

"This is coming from the girl that typically skips meals if she didn't bring anything with her because having to walk to a café would be and I quote, ' _troublesome'_?"

Sabah stuck her tongue out. "I'm not lazy when it comes to school."

"But still lazy."

"Yeah yeah, I'm a bloody hypocrite. But I'm a hypocrite with an impressive GPA."

"Then taking the weekend off won't kill you." James said mildly.

Sabah straightened up, "But-"

"But nothing," James cut in firmly, "You're exhausted and barely functional. Go home. Sleep. Or better yet, go to your parent's house and sleep. They'll feed you."

"But-"

"You're not sleeping in the sarcophagi again, Miss Sabah. You scared a class half to death the last time you did. _Go home_. Eat. Sleep. Preferably in that order."

"I have _work_." Sabah stressed, trying to keep her papers in place as James started shoving them into her bag haphazardly. He only pried them out of her grip and stuffed them in with the rest.

"Work from home." He ordered, hooking an arm around her shoulders so he could forcefully drag her from the room. "I know you finished your part of the group project a week after it was assigned so stop trying to do your groupmates' portions. Now _shoo_. Go. Be gone! I banish you from these lands until the time that you are mentally stable, pain free, and no longer sleep deprived."

Stumbling a bit from the light shove Sabah turned around to give him the stink eye, shouldering her bag as she did so.

"I'm a college student. Those things kind of go hand in hand."

In reply James hefted the mop he propped by the door, waving it around wildly and jabbing it in her direction, "I banish thee!"

Sabah yelped. "I'm going, I'm going!" Ducking under a wild swing she started off down the hallway. She paused at the end of the corridor long enough to shake her fist at the janitor. "You will rue the day you banished me. Rue!"

A small bottle of pills was winged in her direction, smacking against her leg and sent skittering down the hall. "Take some aspirin for your headache before you drive home!"

Sabah couldn't keep from cracking a grin, "Thanks James! You're the best."

"I'm well aware. Now _go_ already."

Sending a half-arsed salute towards the janitor Sabah set off at a jog.

James was right she admitted to herself, albeit grudgingly. Taking the weekend off wouldn't set her back _too_ far, and maybe the radio silence with her classmates would make them sweat enough so that they actually got off their arses and do something.

Popping the top on the bottle and dry swallowing a couple of pills Sabah set off towards her car, mentally praying she didn't have a ticket from parking in a faculty spot again.

She did, in fact, have a ticket.

It was promptly shoved in the glove box with the six others that she would have to pay before the semester ended.

For a few minutes Sabah just rested her head against the steering wheel, debating whether she should actually drive or just sleep in the car. She had an SUV, she could lay down the back seat and fit comfortably enough.

The backseat wasn't _that_ comfortable though, and more importantly, it didn't have her cat.

Cranking the engine Sabah set off towards home, more on autopilot than actually focusing on where she was going.

Dropping her bag by the door Sabah managed to make it as far as her couch before collapsing, tugging the knit blanket there around her like a cocoon and smashing her face into the cushions.

She stayed awake long enough to register the feeling of a foreign weight and warmth settling against her torso before she was out like a light.

* * *

"Sabah, wake up."

Gentle shaking. The warmth on her side shifted and moved with a cranky meow.

"Wake up."

" _Nnneee_ "

More shaking.

" _Stahp go away."_

"Wake _up_."

" _Noooooo~_ "

Curling up tighter, Sabah pulled the blanket over her head.

She was hiding. No one could see her under the blanket. She could keep sleeping.

Yes.

More sleep for her.

The blanket was suddenly ripped away, sending Sabah sprawling to the ground as someone practically screamed in her ear.

"GOOD MORNING SUNSHINE! YOU ARE MY SUNSHINE! YOU MAKE ME HAPPY~ WHEN SKIES ARE GREY!"

Shrieking, Sabah grabbed the nearest cushion and attempted to smother the intruder at the same time Toka yowled and lunged for their head.

They both missed because the arsehole that was her little sister had thrown herself backwards the minute she finished singing and scuttled out of reach.

Rania gave her a grin, all sunshine, rainbows, and schadenfreude. "Good morning, sister dear."

Sabah threw another cushion.

"No."

"I believe the appropriate response is 'good morn-"

" _No_."

"I made breakfast."

"..."

Sabah's stomach gave a traitorous rumble.

"And tea."

"...Morning." Sabah greeting grudgingly.

Rania snorted, rising to her feet and dusting the non-existent dust from her trousers as she made her way back into the kitchen area of their shared flat.

"Go and feed your furry dictator. Breakfast should be done by then."

Sabah reluctantly complied, stumbling around like a drunkard getting to where she kept the cat food before settling down at the small table with sigh, kneading at the bridge of her nose.

"Did you _have_ to wake me up like Amir does?" Sabah whined and Rania only shrugged, most of her focus on the pan she was still stirring.

"You weren't getting up."

"All my siblings are arseholes."

"But you still love us."

"Only the gods know why." Sabah muttered, smacking her hands against her face trying to wake herself up more. "You said there was tea?"

Rania tilted her head towards the electric kettle they kept by the fridge as she cracked an egg into the pan. "Water's done. Just pour it in the teapot. I already put in the lemons."

"You might not be so bad after all." Pouring the hot water into the pot, Sabah took a moment to just inhale the tang of citrus and honey. "Wasn't it supposed to be my turn to cook?"

"I'm lulling you into a false sense of security." Rania said, placing the pan of food on the table next to the tea pot and cups Sabah had brought to the table, "And you look worse than you normally do, so I figured you needed it."

All of which was true. But this was her sister, so she had to deny it on principle.

Sabah gratefully loaded her plate. "I don't look _that_ bad."

"If you looked in a mirror you'd crack it."

Ok...ouch.

"We share a face Rani, so you're basically insulting yourself." Sabah reminded blandly, which only made Rania sniff.

"I'm the pretty twin."

"I think you mean _arrogant_. You really need to stop mixing up your adjectives."

"Eat before you pass out again."

Sabah wrinkled her nose and poked at her food suspiciously with her fork. "You didn't poison it did you?"

"Eat your food, ungrateful swine."

The banter done with, they settled into a comfortable silence and dug into the food, draining the teapot in minutes, refilling it as needed, and occasionally tossing scraps of egg and toast to Toka who had decided to stop sulking about his joint wake-up call with his owner to lurk beneath the table.

The spoiled brat was a master at begging for scraps. He may not have made any noise, but it was hard to ignore a cat that was weighed a little over thirteen kilograms propped halfway on your lap and following your fork with his eyes.

Giving in Sabah put a couple of sausages on the floor for the maine coon to finish off.

"You working today?" Sabah asked absently, not taking her eyes off her cat.

"Not today, but I'm supposed to go in on Sunday." Rania muttered around the rim of her tea cup. "You?"

"I'm thinking of taking the full weekend." Sabah admitted reluctantly, "I need to catch up on sleep before I completely lose it."

Rania snorted and tossed another sausage in the air for Toka to catch. Completely unhindered, which wasn't the norm.

"Where's Gremlin?" Sabah asked, absently looking around for the little furry shadow that normally stalked her cat.

Rania scowled. "Locked in his cage," she grumped in exasperation, "He got into my bag again."

"Oh?" Sabah grinned eagerly, "What did he take this time?"

"My eyeliner, glasses, phone, and wallet." Rania ticked off on her fingers.

Sabah snorted tea through her nose, collapsing on the table in a coughing fit and choked laughter. Her sister's ferret really was the best.

"Did you get all your stuff back?" Sabah asked once she could breathe again.

"I still can't find my eyeliner." Rania admitted blandly, "I was hoping you could help me look since you're free."

"Have you checked under the fridge? He figured out he could fit under there last week."

Narrowing her eyes, Rania got up from the table and grabbed the torch they kept by the window. Clicking it on she peered under the fridge.

Kneading her forehead, Rania switched off the torch. "Why did I want a ferret again?"

"Found your eyeliner I take it?"

"That and what looks like six socks, the bra that I had _thrown away_ , and my missing laptop charger. Seriously, what was I thinking?" Rania lamented, pinching the bridge of her nose, "I must have been out of my mind when I bought him. I knew he was going to be a handful. The first thing he did when I tried to play with him was try to bite through my hand. That should have been a clue, but noooo. I had to buy the ferret."

"He keeps life interesting and you love him."

"That doesn't diminish my desire to tie him in a knot _at all_."

"Hey, that just means he's family." Chugging the rest of her tea, Sabah went to get a coat hanger so they could start fishing out the things under the fridge.

* * *

"I should smoother all of his toys in Bitter Apple Spray." Rania muttered, tossing the recovered clothing into the washing machine, the bra back in the trash with the lid securely closed this time, and her laptop charger well out of reach of the furry menace.

"Then you'd have to wash them all." Sabah reminded, nursing another cup of tea.

"The satisfaction I would feel would outweigh the added work."

Sabah blinked in bemusement. "You're really stressed, aren't you? Your fuse is a lot shorter than usual."

"Well, you're not the only one whose running on practically no sleep and caffeine." Sinking down into her chair with a sigh, Rania gratefully took the cup Sabah and refilled. "I might just call into work tomorrow so I can catch up on sleep too. I nearly broke down crying when my pen ran out of ink yesterday." Flicking her eyes up from the cup, Rania raised an eyebrow. "I am surprised you actually decided to come home instead of crashing in the store room again."

"James banished me. Apparently I scare the rest of my department when I sleep in some of the replicas."

Rania choked back a laugh. "We need to get the man something nice for Christmas for putting up with us these past couple of years. Gods know it can't be easy."

"He loves our crazy. It matches his sense of humor."

"Who said I was crazy? _You're_ the crazy one." Rania said tartly. Sabah playfully stuck out her tongue.

"You just have a better poker face so you don't get caught."

Rania rolled her eyes, but her lips were turned up into a barely visible smirk as she sipped at her tea.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence after that, the purring of a cat the only noise for a while until Rania put down her cup with a delicate 'clink'.

"Speaking of presents, _Teta_ sent us something. It came in the mail yesterday." Getting up, Rania walked to the front hallway and grabbed the package off the side table by the door, bringing it to the kitchen.

It was a relatively small box, only about two hand widths wide and relatively light. As the package moved a soft jingling could be heard.

Plopping back down in her seat Rania waved the box in the air. "Do you want to do the honors or shall I?"

Looking down at the cat sprawled across her lap and hugging her left arm, Sabah just raised an eyebrow. Rania rolled her eyes.

"Right, stupid question. How could you possibly inconvenience your furry overlord?" Sabah stuck out her tongue.

Rania rolled her eyes again, but obligingly got up again to get a pair of scissors to cut through the tape.

Inside were two ring boxes, labels with their names were scrawled across the top of each with more tape. Prying her arm free from Toka, Sabah took her box and immediately opened it. Instead of the ring she was expecting, she saw a tangle of thin golden bands, bent in weird shapes and all connected at a center point. What looked like random bits of red stone dotted the bands.

Sabah had no idea what this was supposed to be.

Rania, on the other hand, seemed to know exactly what it was, ooh-ing and ah-ing over her own box as she examined the bands with blue stones embedded in hers.

"These are _amazing_! Where did she even find these? No, more importantly how much did she pay for these?! With how detailed they are they must have cost a _fortune_!"

"Wanna fill me in on what they are? Please? Because I'm drawing a blank. How are they worth anything? They look like a mini messed up slinky."

"Messed up- do these _look_ cheap to you?" Rania demanded incredulously, pointing at her own set. "These are real gold and _old gold_ at that. And look at how detailed these bands are! They're _tiny_ and still have engravings on some of them. And that's not even taking into account the _stones_!"

Sabah held up her hands and patted at the air. "Okay, okay, chill Rani. I'm not saying they aren't detailed, but I still don't know what they are."

Rania's glare didn't let up in the slightest, "They're _puzzle rings,_ you absolute _walnut_."

"Puzzles?" Sabah's eyes lit up, "Bril! So if I put these together it should form a ring?" she asked eagerly.

"Don't you ever pay attention when Mama talks about some of the antiques she insures? If you had it would be _obvious_."

"Those were Turkish weren't they?" Sabah asked absently, already fiddling with her puzzle. "They weren't Egyptian. Why would I bother with Turkish jewelry?"

"So we can have work conversations that don't have anything to do with Egypt?" Rania offered wryly, starting to work on her puzzle as well.

Sabah snorted, "You and Mama are outnumbered."

"So you keep reminding me." Rania rolled her eyes before focusing back on her puzzle. "Still, these look like antiques. Why would _Teta_ buy these? They had to be expensive."

"She might've gotten them from _Aam_." Sabah offered, not taking her eyes off the puzzle, "He always brings weird things home, but he does find some treasures every now and again. We've gotten a few gifts like that from him before."

"Still…" Rania paused with her fiddling, looking conflicted. "These are expensive. Is it okay for us to keep them?"

"You know _Teta_ won't let us give them back," Sabah reminded, "We'll just need to pool our money and give her a really nice gift when we go back to Alexandria this summer." Sabah glanced at the tea pot on the table. "Should we go for broke and buy her a new tea set? She liked that glass and gold one she saw on display the last time we went shopping with her. It came with a table."

Rania thought about it, hands automatically playing with the golden bands again. "We'll need to start saving now. Even then that will be pushing it with our salaries."

"Sounds like a plan!" Sabah hummed cheerfully, shooting her sister a wink. "We'll need to thank _Teta_ later for giving us something to do with our time off."

"I thought we were going to catch up on sleep?" Rania asked wryly.

"We have _puzzles_." Sabah stressed, waving her own in the air for emphasis. Rania looked back down at her own, rubbing a thumb over the tiny fragments of blue stone embedded in the bands.

"Just an hour or two." She decided, "I still have to be at work tomorrow so I'll need to catch up on sleep before then."

Sabah smiled happily, bouncing up from her chair. "Then let's move to the living room. We can lay on the couch and pass out as we like so we won't have to move too much."

"I call the chaise."

"You'll have to kick Houdini off it first." Sabah smirked, hooking a thumb in the general direction. Confused, Rania turned to look at the chaise. And her ferret trying to reach the lamp shade from the back of it.

"Gremlin!"

000

Thirty minutes later, both sisters had fallen asleep, hands slack with the puzzles dangling slightly between their fingers.

They didn't even stir as gold glowed, forming a mist of light that wound around their arms and sunk into skin.

Shadows rustled in the corners.


	2. Discovery

**Discovery**

000

An attack by a piece that was opened up via another piece's move.

000

Rania blinked awake.

Exhaustion was merely an afterthought as she glanced around the room, taking note of the familiar furnishings, her sister curled up with Toka, and Gremlin who was sprawled out under the coffee table, all completely dead to the world.

Nothing was out of the ordinary, so why did she feel so uneasy?

After another minute of not finding anything out of place, she just shrugged it off. It was likely just a bad dream. It wouldn't be the first time she'd have a nightmare and woke up remembering nothing.

Rubbing a hand over her face, Rania carefully maneuvered herself out from under her sister's legs so she could get up.

Placing her puzzle ring back in it's box, she did the same with Sabah's before it ended up falling to the floor. If they ever made it to that point, they would officially be in Gremlin's domain and the chances of getting them back would be slim to none. That wasn't a risk she was willing to take with something so expensive.

Placing the ring boxes back onto the kitchen table, Rania went to take a shower. It was surprisingly cold in the flat, and the cold had sunk down to her bones, leaving a chill that made her limbs ache.

That's what they got for trying to be cheap during winter, she supposed, bumping the heat up a few more notches.

Finally warm and decked out in a thicker jumper with fuzzy socks, Rania shuffled back to the store room under the stairs. Or as they liked to call it, the abyss. If she remembered right, there should be a jewelry box in there somewhere that had a lock.

She never really used it since she kept her jewelry in Sabah's room up on a bookshelf, but with Gremlin running around, it would be better to be safe than sorry. It would be a lot easier to find where the little bugger tried to stow something half his size than a ring that could easily fit around his paw.

It turned out to be harder to find than she thought since she was already six boxes in and still no luck.

"Why are you searching the abyss?" Jerking in surprise, Rania lost her grip on box number seven as she was pulling it out, knocking her over as it crashed to the floor and sent a few books scattering.

"Oh shit, sorry Rani." Sabah offered sheepishly, rubbing at her eyes. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." Grimacing at the mess, Rania nudged the box with her foot to see if anything was still inside, and yep, that was still pretty heavy. Close call on that one.

"Gremlin's making off with something!"

Snapping to attention, Rania immediately dove towards her ferret, barely grabbing his tail before he made it under a bookshelf. "Oh no you don't you little- let go of the bookshelf! Gods damn it, Sabah! Grab what's in his mouth while I pry him out."

"If he bites me again he's getting shoved back into the paper towel tube." Sabah warned, but obligingly came over and started sweeping her hands in the general area Gremlin's head should be.

After a short scuffle and more swearing than either of them would admit to, Sabah finally managed to pry open the little bugger's jaws without hurting him to get whatever it was out of his mouth.

Which turned out to be a puzzle shaped lump of plastic with the eye of Ra on it.

"Isn't that part of your old toy Millenium Puzzle?" Rania asked after a beat, letting Gremlin successfully dive under the bookshelf to sulk about his lost treasure.

"I do believe it is." Practically radiating delight, Sabah all but dumped the half crushed box out all over the living room floor, sending a cascade of familiar looking books and a few smaller boxes all over the rug.

Rania couldn't fight back her own grin, "So this is where all of our Yu-Gi-Oh stuff went."

"It's been years since I played with this!" Quickly putting together the Millenium Puzzle, Sabah immediately hung it around her neck. "Why haven't we dug these out sooner? We loved these."

"Because university is a blackhole of misery and suffering that sucks out all joy from our lives."

Sabah rolled her eyes, "Yeah, yeah, we've been busy. Still, we could've broken out the decks on game night. Amir was just as into it as we were."

"We had to move around midterms, remember?" Rania reminded, "Our last flat flooded and we just threw everything into boxes so we could get everything out and into our new place so we could study. Anything that wasn't important for everyday living just got shoved into the abyss." Picking up one of the manga books, Rania smoothed out a bent page. "We really did like this fandom, didn't we?"

"What's not to like? Ancient Egypt, magic, monsters, games, Thief Kings, Pharaohs, and conspiracies, Yu-Gi-Oh had it all." Opening up another shoe box, Sabah pulled out the plastic replica Scepter with a frown, waving it around in the air. "This is Amir's. Why do we have it?"

Rania grabbed it before it could accidentally smack her in the head. "When we were going through the Indiana Jones phase he would hit us over the head with it and yell about barbaric grave robbers when we pretended that the backyard was an ancient tomb. Since we were 'grave robbing' anyway we decided to be thorough and raided his room while he was sleeping." Rania turned the Scepter over in her hands, "Bit hypocritical of him, isn't it? At that point he was grave robbing for real with _Baba_."

"Technically, they weren't grave robbing," Sabah objected, flipping through one of the manga that had caught her eye.

"Isn't all archaeology grave robbing?"

"Depends on how old the stuff is." Sabah answered absently, "If it's below fifty years old _then_ it's grave robbing. Anything older than that is technically fair game and completely respectable."

"Legal and respectable grave robbing." Rania said flatly, "What fine, upstanding citizens our family is."

"If the shoe fits." Sabah shot back cheerfully, happily waving around two decks of cards held together with rubber bands.

"Care for a duel, sister dear? If I remember correctly, the last time we played you lost _horribly_."

"The last time we played I had just gotten my wisdom teeth out and was higher than a bloody kite. Of course I lost. Skill had nothing to do with it."

"Wanna bet?" Sabah's face curled up into an impish smile, "Best two out of three, with that last game we played counting as your loss. Winner decides a penalty for the loser."

"You're on."

"Prepare to lose, _hazelnut_."

Neither of them noticed Gremlin sneaking out from under the bookcase and onto the coffee table.

The ring boxes weren't that sturdy and it wasn't the first time he had gotten into a box before. Prying open the one that had his owner's scent he stuck his head in and nosed around to see what new fun thing there was for him to play with.

He'd barely gotten his teeth around the bands before a shock traveled through his mouth, freezing him in place. Cold crept in through his teeth, spreading through his brain and down his spine, wrapping around his little heart like a vice.

Once he could move again, Gremlin wasted no time diving under the couch and wedging himself into the corner closest to the wall, fur standing on end and fangs bared at the presence radiating from the center of the room.

That wasn't a toy.

That was _dangerous_.

* * *

No matter how nice and relaxing a weekend was, it still had to end. Adulting waited for no one and all that loveliness.

Which was why Sabah was in a museum back room on a Monday morning with the curator in charge Damian, another research assistant like herself, and Ewan-bloody-Moore who apparently also works for the same museum. Because of course he did.

She was going to have to deal with him for the rest of this project now wasn't she? No more ignoring him after class like he didn't exist, she was now going to have to _interact_ with this ponce.

_Gods, why have you forsaken me?_

"Sabah, are you even listening?"

"Yes!"

"What did I just say then?" Damian asked skeptically. Sabah shuffled her feet.

"Er, I'll let you know once the coffee kicks in?" she said sheepishly, regretting that she had taken off her scarf and now there wasn't anything to bury her burning face in.

"Anyone want to fill her in on what she's missed for the past hour and a half?"

Ewen stepped forward with an easygoing grin and it was all Sabah could do to keep from banging her head against the table.

Why him? Just _, why?_

"What looks like an underground temple or shrine was uncovered recently a few months ago near the Dakhla Oasis. From an initial overview it looks like it was used for some kind of ritual. We'll be analyzing the tablets and papyrus that were found in the tomb along with all of the artifacts. If we can get a decent translation going, the rest should be easier so we'll be working mostly on translations. The museum should be finished cataloging everything by tonight so we can start on translation tomorrow morning."

"That's the extremely simplified version, but that more or less covers the basics." Damian agreed. Turning to look at Sabah's flushed face he decided to have mercy. "I'll email out the details for you to read over. I want everyone familiar with them by tomorrow," His eyes focused back on Sabah, "And be sure you're well caffeinated."

"I'll do that…"

"Then I'll see you all tomorrow." Waving a hand, Damian shoed them out of his office, asking only Ewen to stay back for a bit.

Clutching her coffee like it was a lifeline, Sabah headed straight for her car, eyes glued to the floor in an attempt to signal that she didn't want to talk to any of the few other people wandering around the museum. Hopefully they would all get the hint since it was barely eight in the morning and she was not even close to fully functional yet.

She made it out the front doors, and her heart lifted at the sight of her car just down the street.

She had made it. No morning small talk for her. She could go get tea instead of this instant sludge she had thrown together when she realized she was running late.

"Sabah, wait a minute!"

Oh, _bugger_ this whole day.

Resigned, Sabah turned toward Ewen who was jogging to catch up with her, twisting her face into what she hoped was a polite expression and not a grimace of annoyance that she could _feel_ forming before she made her face freeze over into her customer service face.

With a sigh, she chugged the remainder of her coffee, hoping it would do _something_ to help wake her up more.

"Sorry for calling you out," Ewen apologized once he finally caught up, "Do you want to meet up after lecture today? I can help you go over the information packet Damian just emailed out."

"Thank you, but that won't be necessary." Sabah shot down immediately, "I have dinner with my parents tonight so I won't have the time. Thank you for the offer though." Giving him a smile, Sabah turned so she was facing down the stairs and hoped he would take the hint and end the conversation.

And with her luck, of course he didn't.

"So Dr. al Hakim is back in England now?" Ewen asked brightly, following her down the steps, "Do you think he would swing by the department to look over our projects? The recent work we're going to be doing is related to a find from a couple of years ago so his input would be great."

"I can ask?" Seeing he had followed her all the way back to her car, Sabah didn't really have any other choice but to offer.

"That would be great!" Opening her car door, Ewen ushered her in, throwing out a quick 'See you in lecture' before closing the door for her and walking off.

Sabah stared blankly at his back, trying to comprehend what just happened.

Smacking her face a few times, Sabah started the car.

She needed tea. And food. But mostly tea.

Her parents wouldn't care if she just skipped lecture and went straight to their house would they? She hadn't seen them yet even though they'd been back two weeks already, so it had been a little over three months since she'd done more than talk to them over Skype.

She shouldn't get scolded for coming to see them a few hours early.

* * *

Sabah barely made it through the kitchen door and the first thing that came out of Helen's mouth when she saw her oldest daughter was, "Why aren't you in class?"

"Because I missed you and I love you?" Sabah offered, kissing her mom on the cheek after a quick hug before plopping down next to her and pouring herself a cup of tea.

"I love you too," Helen replied, taking a sip of her tea. "And now the real reason?"

"It's Monday and I hate my TA/co-worker."

"And what has Ewen done now?"

"He exists!" Sabah exploded, waving her arms about. "It's like he's always there! He's in my classes, he's at the museum, I go to the library and he's bloody well there too!"

"Language." Helen chastised lightly, taking some of the wind out of Sabah's sails.

"Sorry Mama, but it just...he's driving me crazy."

"Is he doing anything inappropriate?"

"No." Sabah admitted grudgingly, resting her chin on the table. "He's never said or done anything bad. All we really talk about is class material or _Baba_ 's stuff. And it makes sense that he's in all those places since we're in the same field. He acts really nice most of the time, and he's not a bad TA but...I don't know, I just don't like him."

"So you're skipping class to avoid him?" Helen asked, amusement clear in her tone.

"Just for today." Cushioning her head on her arms, Sabah pouted. "I know it's childish and I can't ignore him forever so I'm not going to go to extremes. I just had a work meeting this morning and he's on my team for a new project and I've had all I can handle of him for today while I'm not plied with tea."

Turning her head, she gave her mother a grin. "Plus I really just wanted to go home. It's been a while."

Helen snorted and refilled Sabah's cup. "Your sister had the same idea, only she didn't skip class. Hers got cancelled." With a smirk she hooked a thumb towards the back door. She's been here for about thirty minutes. Her and your father are out in the back garden trying to put together a swing."

"Wait, what?" Head popping, Sabah turned to look out the window, squawking indignantly. "I thought he was still asleep. Wait, that's not the important thing, how dare she come here without asking me to tag along?"

"Probably because she knew you'd be in class?" Helen asked archly, mirth shining in her eyes.

"That means _nothing_." Giving her mom another hug Sabah went out the back.

" _Baba_! How could you do something fun without your favorite child?"

Rania flipped her the bird.

"This isn't exactly fun, and you look the same so it half counts in your favor. " Karim shot back, gladly tossing the instruction he was trying to make sense of away. Setting down his screwdriver, he held his arms out. "Hey walnut. Long time no see."

Sabah lept at him, laughing as he swung her around a few times before setting her down and ruffling her hair.

"Grab a screwdriver. I'll fill you in on how the trip went and then you can tell me what I've missed on your end."

Sabah was only too happy to comply.

* * *

"It amazes me that you can put thousand year old pottery that almost looks like gravel back together but you can't put together a swing with clear set instructions unless your daughters are coaching you through it."

"It's not my fault the instructions don't make sense." Karim muttered petulantly into his coffee cup.

Helen wasn't sympathetic. "It had _pictures_."

Karim flushed as his daughters snickered at him. Clearing his throat, he turned towards Rania.

"What's been going on with you, hazelnut? Sabah's filled us in on her end, but how are your classes going?"

"Real smooth, _Baba_. Great transition." Refilling her cup, Rania blew on it a bit before setting it back down. "Classes have been fine for the most part. Dr. Kinlin is still trying to drown everybody in minute details for his essays. I've started recording his lectures and just memorizing every word that comes out of his mouth."

"He teaches the class on Greek and Roman Art, right?" Helen asked, "We used him as a consultant for when we were insuring a piece a year or so ago." Helen took another sip of her tea, "He really knows his artwork."

"Which is why I'm treating his words as gold." Rania grimaced, "Doesn't make the class any easier."

"But it will pay off in the end. I mean just look at your father. All of his obscure facts and random knowledge have helped him, even if he is eccentric."

"You love me."

"Yes, I do. For some odd reason." Helen rolled her eyes, but affectionately patted his hand, a soft smile on her face before turning her attention back to Rania. "Have you painted anything new recently? I've moved things around a bit so we have an empty space in the stairway that could use filling up."

Rania shook her head, "Nothing that presentable. Just some sketches. This close to the holidays I haven't had much spare time to myself."

"Your sketches are just as good as your paintings, hazelnut. Next time you visit, bring them over so I can have a look."

"Ok Mama."

Satisfied, Helen turned her attention back to her husband, "Speaking of artwork, you found several busts on your dig. Tell me more about those."

"There was a partial collapse in a section of the mountain near the Dakhla Oasis. It revealed a cave that was completely intact and was essentially decked out as a shrine. We just don't know for certain which gods it was for since we were a bit rushed."

"Wait, Dakhla Oasis? That was your project?" Sabah blinked in shock, "I thought you were supposed to be in Bawiti."

"I was but this was a bit of a special case." Leaning back in his seat, Karim gave Sabah a perplexed look. "You've already heard of it? It shouldn't be public knowledge yet."

"It's not but the museum you sent it to knows about it. I'm on the team to help with the translation. I got assigned this morning."

"Of course you are." Helen couldn't help but groan, exacerbated, "Now our dinner conversations are going to be about nothing but you two going back and forth comparing details while Rania and I won't be able to get a word in edgewise."

Karim and Sabah both had the decency to look sheepish.

"We'll talk about the details later." Karim promised before falling silent, quickly holding up his newspaper as a shield to his wife's ire.

"On a non-Egyptian related note," Rania broke in after letting the atmosphere simmer a bit, " _Teta_ sent us antique puzzle rings a few days ago."

"Really?" Perking up, Helen sat up straighter in interest. "How many bands?"

"Fourteen. All of them thin with either carvings or stones embedded in the bands. The stones themselves are a bit of a puzzle. I'm pretty sure they fit together in a certain way to form the focal point."

Helen was delighted, "A puzzle within a puzzle. You're grandmother always did think of the best gifts for the lot of you. Be sure to call and thank her properly."

"We will." The twins assured in unison.

After that the topic shifted away from work, jumping from how the pets were fairing, eating habits, and any other interest that came to mind.

* * *

It was dark by the time they got back to their flat.

Sabah wasted no time in picking up her puzzle ring and settling into bed to work on it with Toka draped across her hip.

Rania wished her goodnight before swinging by the kitchen on the way to her own room. Helen had made several batches of maamoul the day prior and sent the girls home with several tins of it.

Rania was determined to put a decent sized dent in one of those tins.

Sweets within easy reach and nestled into her own bed Rania went to work on her own puzzle.

At first glance it didn't seem that hard to put together. But taking the stones into account and not having any inkling of what kind of shape the stones were supposed to form made it considerably harder.

Rania worked on it for a few hours before carefully setting it on her nightstand, afraid of undoing the miniscule amount of progress she had already made.

She had just turned off the lights when she heard something hitting the floor, a cats yowl, and something bolting down the hallway.

"Toka? Sabah, what happened?" Sticking her head in her sisters room, she saw her fast asleep, puzzle still in her hand, and most of her nightstands contents on the floor.

"And you claim you don't sleep like the dead." Rania grumbled, but still picked up her things and put the puzzle on the nightstand, turning out the light as she left to go find the cat.

Said cat had wedged himself under Gremlin's cage, fur completely puffed out and ears flat against his head.

"Toka? Come on _aleaziz_ , it's alright. It was just the alarm clock. It's not that scary."

Toka didn't budge.

Knowing better than to try to pet him like this, Rania grabbed his catnip and sprinkled some on the floor around the cage, hoping that would help calm him down.

"Alright, Toka. This is all I'm doing for you. The door to Sabah's room is open, when you calm down go cuddle with her. Or help Gremlin pull some Houdini bullshit and cuddle with him. I'm going to bed."

Going back up the stairs she didn't notice the faint golden light coming from Sabah's room.

* * *

Everything was dark.

Not the dark that came from closing your eyes, or turning off all the lights in a seal space. This wasn't nearly as...shallow.

This was thick. Viscous almost.

The kind of dark that appeared to move, shifting like the deepest trench in the ocean from unseen monsters and icy currents. It seemed almost sentient, pushing against her from all directions and trying to completely smother her.

Sabah was more than ready to wake up now.

Of all the dreams that she could remember, this one _easily_ came in first place on her list of nightmares.

There was nothing good in this dream; just unending darkness, a bone-deep chill, and a pressure that seemed to come from everywhere at once.

The only light she could make out came from _her_.

Like a paper lantern, her skin glowed with a flickering golden light that only extended out a few inches before being swallowed by the darkness.

Which would have been awesome under any other circumstances. Unfortunately, the more the light flickered, the worse the pressure became.

She couldn't even really move. Flail around and turn in circles yes, but moving from this one spot seemed impossible.

Or maybe she _was_ moving. With no sense of direction and no way to tell one spot from the next she couldn't really tell.

After resting for a moment, Sabah decided to keep 'swimming'. At least that way she was doing something other than staying in one place and crumbling under the weight of all the eyes she could _feel_ watching her but couldn't see.

Unable to stand the silence Sabah started humming. A cheerful upbeat tune that Rania would have smacked her for if she had been in the dream too.

Sabah didn't know how long she kept swimming. It felt like an eternity and she was tired of moving when her limbs felt like they had weights tied to them.

She was debating whether or not she should keep 'swimming' or just float there until she woke up when the darkness receded.

One second, heavy, almost smothering darkness, the next it was like all the pressure was gone, and the area around her, even though it was still dark, was empty.

Well, almost empty.

Three glowing eyes stared back.

Sabah _really_ wanted to wake up now.

" **Who are you?** " The tone was authoritative and male, if young. Two of the eyes narrowed, and the shadow they were attached to moved around her in a circle, observing, before stopping back in front of her. " **What are you?** "

Sabah didn't say a word to the weird eldritch being. Maybe if she was quiet enough he would leave her alone.

But again, her luck wasn't that great.

" **Speak.** " the shadow demanded, " **I am your master. You have no right to refuse.** "

Any fear she had for the shadow immediately vanished and was replaced by indignation.

" _On what grounds do you call yourself my master and order me around?_ " She demanded. The shadow flared out threatening, exerting a pressure of its own that was just as stifling as it got closer to her..

" **I rule the Darkness and the monsters that reside within it. I command and you obey.** "

Sabah didn't even think twice, raised her hand, and slapped the shadow across what should have been its face.

The shadow reared back, dumbfounded. " **You** _ **dare-**_ "

" _Yes, I dare._ " Sabah interrupted, just completely done with this dream. " _I don't live here and I'm certainly not a monster, which I thought was rather obvious since I'm_ glowing _, so any authority you have here means nothing to me. I don't know you, I certainly don't like you with how rude you've just been, so I'm not going to do a thing you say."_

Sabah glared at the shadow. " _The only reason I'm even here is because I haven't woken up yet. If you want to find a monster to order around feel free to have a look around._ " an arm was waved to indicate, well, everything around them, " _I've sensed enough of them lurking here so I'm sure you can take your pick."_

" **Dream? No one else should be in this place. How did you get in here?** " the shadow pressed, getting agitated.

" _I fell asleep,"_ Sabah repeated irritably, crossing her arms over her chest. " _And I'm more than ready to wake up. Have a pleasant rest of your night, you arrogant_ jackass _."_

And then Sabah promptly woke up.

Kicking herself out of the few blankets that hadn't ended up on the floor, Sabah put on her slippers and robe to ward off the cold and stomped her way to the kitchen to make a pot of tea.

To hell with it still being dark out. She wasn't going to go to sleep again of that's what she was going to be dreaming about.

Rania was already at the table, polishing off one of the tins of sweets they'd brought home earlier.

Rania took one look at her face and held up the tin, "Maamoul?"

Sabah took one and stuffed it in her mouth as she dropped down into one of the chairs, chewing angrily.

After swallowing the sweet, Sabah took another one. "Why are you up?"

"Bad dream," Rania replied, pushing her cup over so Sabah could have a sip of her tea. "What about you?"

"Same." Sabah muttered. "Stupid, eldritch abomination. Ordering me to speak, do I look like a dog?"


	3. Hanging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I live

**Chapter 3: Hanging**

* * *

**_A hanging piece is one that's not only unprotected but can be captured en prise or freely, meaning the hanging piece is captured without any loss of material to the player doing the capturing_ **

* * *

Submitting her last paper for the term, Rania immediately shut off her laptop before she gave in to the urge to chuck it across the room. 

She hated writing papers. Words just didn’t come as quickly to her as they did to Sabah, even though she was perfectly fine with all of the minor details she needed to incorporate.

But that was her last one, and she now had time to herself—a whole afternoon with no obligation or deadlines.

Logic dictated she take a nap. She was running on fumes after pulling another all-nighter and was likely to crash any minute.

Rania  _ really  _ didn’t want to do that.

Her dreams had been bizarre for the past couple of weeks.

Shaking her head to clear it, Rania grabbed her satchel and switched cafes, leaving the main street for a small little hole in the wall coffee shop. Ordering another cup of coffee, she settled into the armchair they had wedged in by the window, legs curled up under her with a sketchbook open in her lap.

The pencil hovered just above the page, hesitant, before running across the paper in heavy strokes. Monsters took form, demons with wicked horns and sharp claws reaching out before the pencil swept across them, hiding them behind smears of black, out of sight but still there giving faces to the darkness.

In the center was a shadow, human-shaped and bound by chains.

Rania’s hand flinched slightly, almost ripping the paper as she added another link.

Releasing a breath, Rania then sketched herself.

Her arms wrapped around the shadow, one hand cradling its head where the shadow buried it in her neck while the other hand wrapped around its torso in comfort. The only light around was coming from her skin, a scant few inches that barely kept the darkness at bay.

That had been her dream since she’d pulled that box out of the abyss.

Her smudged fingers gently touched the shadows’ head.

The dream had started with nothing but darkness and a mindless wandering, too scared to stay in one place.

Finding the shadow was purely by chance. One second she was alone, and the next, there were chains, trailing off into nothing holding something taunt between them.

The shadow barely moved its head, merely listing to one side as glowing eyes stared at her, and a dead voice, hoarse from lack of use mused, “ **So they decided to use something new to torture me, huh?** ”

Every dream after that started with the shadow.

It didn’t talk much, and she never asked that many questions. They mostly just kept each other company. Rania kept her distance for the most part but would move a bit closer when the darkness started moving, and the pressure got worse.

During those times, the shadow seemed like he was in pain, tremors shaking his limbs and causing the chains to rattle. Its eyes would always be fixed straight ahead like it was watching something.

After nearly a week of this, Rania couldn’t take it anymore. 

“ _ What do you see? _ ” she asked hesitantly before the darkness started writhing again, “ _ When you start shaking. _ ”

“ **You don’t see anything?** ” the shadow asked instead, slumping as the darkness started to get thicker.

“ _ Just darkness. _ ”

“ **Lucky you.** ” 

Pursing her lips, Rania hesitated a moment - because dream or not, she didn’t want to die from a hole in her throat - before wrapping the shadow in a hug, pressing his face against her neck so he couldn’t look forward.

“ _ If it hurts, then don’t watch. _ ”

The shadow had stiffened but hadn’t resisted once the darkness started churning.

Rania had been hugging the shadow for a little over a week now. He had even immediately started leaning in, doing his best to wrap around her even with his arms bound, hanging on as if she was his only life-line.

Closing the sketchbook, Rania leaned back in her chair, cradling her now cold coffee as she stared out the window.

It was a bit unfair to keep calling him a shadow, she supposed, even if it was just a dream. She recognized him on the third day, even without being able to see his facial features.

He was already enduring torture every day; she didn’t have a right to de-humanize him any more than what he was already going through, real or not.

Rania regretted finding their old Yu-Gi-Oh stuff. If she knew these were the kind of dreams she would have, she would have left the box to collect dust in the abyss.

Even without the fine details, Akefia’s torture was heartrending to watch.

* * *

Sabah hadn’t been this excited since her first visit to the desert when she was six.

Staring down at the translations, she’d just double-checked for the up-tenth time, and she couldn’t keep the grin from nearly splitting her face.

Entwined snake statues, spell boxes, tablets, papyrus, and ritual items all had the same three hieroglyphics etched somewhere onto their surfaces.

Heka.

So she could say with roughly sixty percent certainty that this cave had been a temple to Heka, the god of Magic and Medicine, one of the first Egyptian gods in existence.

This was  _ huge _ .

There had never been a set following of Heka recorded. Ever. Practices of magic everywhere, yes, but never any actual proof of Heka having his own devoted cult.

Sabah’s grin got even wider.

That is, until now.

Taking out her phone, Sabah punched in a number, almost vibrating in her seat as she waited.

“ _ Hey, walnut. What’s u-” _

“Did you know about this?!” shocked silence.

“ _ You’re going to have to be a bit more specific, walnut.” _

“Dakhla Oasis. Cave excavation. Do you know what you found?” Sabah demanded again, jumping up to pace around the lab. “You said you had details?”

“ _ Yes, yes, I did,” _ Karim confirmed, amusement creeping into his voice. “ _ The cave was related to a dig about eight years ago. Another cave was found near Siwah with almost the exact same carvings on the walls. The place was a mess when we found it. Almost everything was smashed, there were traces of fire, and we found mummified remains that look like they were killed pretty brutally. We never got to analyze anything in-depth to find out exactly what the place was for, unfortunately. Earthquakes caused the place to collapse, and everything we did manage to excavate got stolen in transit.” _

“Wait, stolen?” That pulled Sabah up short. “So, you don’t have anything from the previous dig?”

“ _ A few off-hand notes and some pictures, but everything else we lost.” _ Karim sounded aggrieved, “ _ The thieves had guns and forced everyone out of the truck. A couple of kilometers after they drove away, the truck caught on fire. The engine was faulty and had already given out on us a couple of times. Getting that far out into the desert to begin with was practically a miracle. We had decided just to use it to store things until our replacement truck arrived. Something sparked when the engine overheated while the thieves were making their getaway and the whole thing blew sky high. Nothing survived, thieves included _ .”

Sabah stared at her phone, incredulously for a moment. “ _ Baba _ , what the hell?”

“ _ Hey, if you don’t believe me, ask your co-worker. Moore was interning at the time and came with us on the trip to get some on hands experience.” _

“Ewen Moore was with you on the trip?” Sabah asked in disbelief, hoping she had heard wrong.

“ _ That he was.” _

Well shit.

Pinching the bridge of her nose, Sabah relented. “I’ll give him a call in a bit, see if he knows where the pictures are or if he’s using them when it's his turn in the lab.”

“ _ It would be a good comparison. Ewen swung by the site for a few days before we headed home for this dig, so he should have a decent insight. Now walnut, are you going to tell me what’s gotten you so excited? I’m dying from suspense here. Tell me what you translated already.” _

“I can’t confirm anything for sure,” Sabah had to keep reminding herself of this before she got too carried away, “but everything I’ve managed to translate so far is pointing toward this being a temple for a cult to Heka.”

Stunned silence, then a long, incoherent sputtering of Arabic.

“We submit a progress report at the end of this week.” Cutting through the slew of questions, Sabah was back to grinning. “It’ll be a lot more concise and put together, so that should answer some of the questions. You were there for the dig, so you’ll get the update.”

Glancing at the clock, Sabah shouldered her bag, throwing her coat over her arm while she grabbed her notes with the other. “My shifts already ended, and they’re cleaning tonight, so I’m going to have to go,  _ Baba _ .”

“ _ If you hang up now, you’re dead to me.” _

“Isn’t patience the most important part of archeology?”

“ _ Dead to me.” _

“Love you too,  _ Baba _ .” Rolling her eyes, Sabah hurried out of the lab. “I’ll call you later this week. Kiss Mama for me.”

Not waiting for the reply Sabah ended the call, shoving the phone back in her pocket as she all but skipped down the hall.

The answer might not be set in stone, but it was a possibility. Finding the puzzle pieces was always exciting, even if she didn’t know what the finished product would be.

“What’s gotten you in such a good mood?”

Startled, Sabah almost tripped.

James leaned against his cleaning cart, giving her a cheeky half-arsed salute. “Miss Sabah.”

“You like nearly giving me heart attacks, don’t you?” Sabah demanded, clutching at her chest. “Every single time, just- where do you even come from?”

“It’s not my fault you’re not that attentive.” James rebutted leisurely, “And you should know my schedule well enough by now to know I work at the museum on Saturdays and Sundays. Now, what's got you so happy?”

Mentally putting another tally against her favorite janitor for startling her again, Sabah shed all pretenses of irritability and continued to beam in excitement.

“Just work. I’m translating a ritual spell that I’m almost positive was dedicated to Heka. Most of the things on this last dig we’re dedicated to Heka from what I can tell.” she rambled, maneuvering her stuff so she could get her coat on correctly without spilling her things all over the floor.

When she finally looked up, James was blank-faced.

“James?” Waving a hand in front of his face didn’t get a response, so Sabah tried poking him in the shoulder. “You okay, James?”

Blinking out of it, he swatted her hand away before rubbing his mouth in embarrassment. “Sorry, Miss Sabah. Conditioned reaction. I’d ask your father the same thing, and he’d go on for hours, so I got into the habit of dissociating.”

“You don’t have to ask, you know. It wouldn’t be the first time you’ve spurned social niceties.” Chuckling, Sabah reached into her coat pocket and pulled out the remaining bag of maamoul and handed it over. “Here. A snack to get you through the rest of your shift.”

“Your family spoils me.” Putting the bag in a pocket, James shooed her down the hall.

“Have a good rest of your night, Miss.”

“You too, James!”

* * *

Rania was half tempted to throw the puzzle ring out the window. It had been almost a month, and she still hadn’t solved the damn thing.

It’s not like she hadn’t gotten close. Only four of the original fourteen bands needed to be fitted together, but that was the whole problem.

Whatever design this was supposed to be resembled a fork with the two tines in the middle twisted around each other to form some kind of spiral. And while the design was pretty simple, trying to get itty-bitty stone fragments to conform like they were supposed too was turning into its own sort of nightmare since she would have to take the whole thing apart to try to fit in another band.

But she was almost done. She would finish this, and then she’d super glue it together so she would never have to go through this again. Or just never take the ring off once it was done. 

Either way,  _ never again _ .

The only upside she found to this was that Gremlin wouldn’t go near the ring. He seemed scared of it. As soon as she’d bring it out of its box, the ferret would stop whatever he was doing and jump around, doing a mad little war dance like he was trying to intimidate the thing before giving in and running away. Then he’d stay in whatever bolt hole he’d found for himself until she managed to fish him out and stuck him down her jumper. 

The little fool wouldn’t calm down unless he was curled up in a ball wedged in her cleavage with his head tucked up near her heart.

It was hilarious, and it happened every single time.

She’d tried to fit another band in a few more positions when the sound in the kitchen stopped, and Sabah came out holding a tray. 

“I bring you tea and cake.”

Rania raised an eyebrow. “What do you want?” Sabah grimaced and set the tray down on the coffee table.

“I need to make a phone call, but I need you to dial the number.”

“Seriously?”

“Please? All you have to do is press call.”

“Who are you even calling?”

Slumping down on the couch, Sabah held out her phone.”Ewen Moore. I have questions about work.”

“Okay, seriously. What did this man do to make you hate him so much? Exterminate your family in your last life?”

“Wouldn’t surprise me if he did,” Sabah muttered, jabbing her in the ribs with the phone now. “Look, I don’t know  _ why _ I just don’t like him. But I  _ need  _ to make this call, and I’ve been trying for almost an hour, and I can’t make myself do it. Just press call and put it on speaker, and don’t let me hang up. Ten minutes out of your day, max.”

Rania eyed the phone with disbelief. “You genuinely can’t do this yourself?”

“I will buy you a new sketchbook and paints if you  _ please  _ just make this call.”

“Okay, fine.” Carefully putting the puzzle aside, Rania took the offered phone. Pressing the green button and then the speaker, she held it out between then as the dial tone rang.

After three rings, he picked up.

“ _ Sabah! What can I help you with? _ ” a male voice asked absently. Sabah’s face screwed up in distaste. 

“Yeah, uh, hi, Ewen. I had a question about work.”

“ _ Shoot _ .”

“ _ Baba _ mentioned that you were on the original expedition to the Dakhla Oasis a few years ago?”

There was a beat of silence, then the sound of paper ripping, and a few things clattering came over the connection.

“ _ Sorry about that. I knocked my notebook off the table _ ,” Ewen offered apologetically after another beat of silence. “ _ Yes, I was on that excavation _ .”

“Did you happen to save any notes or photographs that didn’t get lost in the fire? From what  _ Baba _ said, the caves seem almost identical-”

“ _ They’re not _ .” Ewen cut her off. 

“ _ I’m sorry? _ ” Sabah jerked in surprise at how  _ insistent  _ Ewen was. Sharing a glance with Rania, Sabah couldn’t help rolling her eyes as she gestured towards her phone.

“ _ They’re not, _ ” Ewen repeated firmly, “ _ Several key details are missing _ .”

“Then, do you have any of the photos or notes for comparison?”

“ _ No _ ,” Ewen replied bitterly, “ _ Unfortunately, nothing survived the fire _ .”

Exasperated, annoyed, and incredibly uncomfortable with the circle, the conversation was going in, Sabah started strangling a pillow.

“Then how do you know for certain that they aren’t similar?” She asked politely through gritted teeth, falling back on ingrained customer service skills as she tried not to give in to the urge to through niceties to the wind to keep the conversation civil.

“ _ I remember everything about that first excavation, Sabah. Every detail, carving, and statue I remember just as clearly as if it was yesterday, _ ” was said matter-of-factly.

Sabah could barely keep the sarcasm out of her voice. “That clear?”

“ _ That find was exceptional, _ ” Ewen said vaguely as if he was already going down memory lane and checked out from the conversation. Sabah took that as her cue to check out too.

“ _ Baba _ did say your first excavation was special. I guess he was right, then. Thank you for your help, Ewen.”

“ _ See you in class, Sabah _ ,” Ewen hummed, and Sabah quickly snatched the phone from Rania and smashed the end call button.

“Annoying, vexatious donkey!” 

“Okay, you already hung up, glaring at it won’t make it catch on fire, so calm down already” Rania took the phone away before her sister decided to break it and offered the cup Sabah had previously brought to bribe her in exchange. Sabah snatched the cup and downed it like it was a shot glass before pouring herself another one.

Head propped up on a pillow in her lap Rania nudged the tray closer.

“I see why you don’t like him now. Does everything he says always sound so...I don’t know, off?”

“Thank you! Finally, someone gets it!”

“So, I’ll take that as a yes?”

“Kind of,” Sabah said reluctantly, putting down her cup to grab a pillow of her own. “The feeling’s a lot worse when you’re talking to him in person. Honestly, until you agreed with me, I pretty much thought that it's all in my head.” Sabah scrubbed a hand through her hair in frustration. “He’s never rude, he’s unfailingly polite, and he’s extremely accommodating as a TA and as a coworker. There’s really nothing to dislike about him. But everything he does sets my teeth on edge.”

“Could it just be how he words his sentences?” Rania pondered, leaning down to scoop up Gremlin and place him in her lap. “Or maybe Asperger’s disease? Hell, maybe he’s just eccentric.”

“Who knows?” Sabah grumbled, scooping up her own fur child to cuddle. “I’m not going to confront him about it. I’d come across as a massive bitch to everyone in our department.”

“So, you’ll just be a bitch in the dark?” Rania asked wryly. Sabah flipped her off.

“At least you’re here to keep me company,” Sabah snarked back.

* * *

Ewen stared vacantly at his phone after Sabah hung up, absently stroking the rip in his sketchbook as his mind went back years ago to the Dakhla Oasis.

When they had first arrived, they were all so excited, crowding around the altar, ever mindful of the corpses as they went through the place with a fine-tooth comb.

No one but him seemed to notice the doorway hidden around a bend in the rock, tucked out of sight behind a pillar that was practically crumbling due to age. He had tried to point it out multiple times, but all they could see was the cave’s rough wall.

After nearly a month of getting no acknowledgment about the doorway, he decided to test it out himself so he could prove he wasn’t just hallucinating due to excitement. 

Statues lined the walls, life-like in an unusual way for that time period, sentinels keeping guard as he walked down the long hall. He remembered shivering, partially from the chill in the air as he went deeper and partly from the stares of the statues that seemed to follow him as he went.

The hallway ended in an antechamber with murals depicting the course of a battle that ended with dual sacrifices.

Human sacrifices.

That had stuck out especially. Ancient Egyptians didn’t make human sacrifices outside of burying slaves with the dead to serve in the afterlife, but this…

Tracing a hand over the depiction of the high priest presenting the hearts of two women to a god, Ewen could only marvel.

Leaving the antechamber, Ewen walked to the feet of two women’s statues that took up most of the moderately sized cave, flowers, and treasures placed reverently at their feet.

It was like time refused to leave a mark on the statues; the gold and silver embellishments and headdresses gleamed under the torchlight as if it had been polished just yesterday while the fabric draped across them was untouched.

The same ornaments and clothing as the women in murals, Ewen belatedly noticed.

Identical faces stared straight ahead, grim determination in every line of their faces. Hands clasped between them, the woman in gold was half a step in front of the other, staff raised in imitation of how Ewen had seen in fantasy movies when a wizard would cast a spell. The silver woman held a  _ khopesh _ , guarding the gold woman’s side as she blocked an unforeseen attack.

Both of them radiating with the remnants of power, echoes of the battle they fought before.

Ewen laughed, euphoria overtaking everything.

They were his. He had found the doorway and this chamber. Not those professors or seasoned archeologists but  _ him _ , as if the gods themselves wanted him to discover them. These women were  _ his  _ find,  _ his  _ contribution,  _ his  _ legacy.

And as he burned the image of these women into his mind’s eye, he reveled in the glory they would bring him once the sun rose.

The glory never came. An earthquake buried his dreams, and thieves and faulty engines destroyed what was left of his glory as his camera went up in flames.

Those women became nothing more than a figment of his imagination; a face draped in silver and gold that haunted him every night in his dreams, as he stayed nothing but a student and then teaching assistant.

He sketched those faces, again and again, filling his flat with faces that mocked him with what could have been, but unable to stop.

He thought he would never see that face again outside of his head.

That is until Sabah walked into his class.

His heart had stopped, and his world narrowed down to that one student staring attentively at the blackboard  _ because that was their face _ .

It was like he was back in time, marveling in awe in front of his women and future once again.

“Planning on burning the midnight oil, Moore?”

Snapping out of his reverie, Ewen turned to look at the janitor who had pushed his cleaning cart into the shared space that made up the TA’s offices.

“It’s not that late, James.” Ewen countered as he closed his notebook before James could see the sketches.

“Late enough that most everyone has gone home, all ready for the weekend.”

“What are you doing here then? Shouldn’t you be home?”

James shrugged and took out his rag to start wiping down the desks. “I’ll admit I’m running a bit behind. Ran into Miss Sabah earlier, and she gave me a bag of snacks. I decided to take a bit of a break to enjoy them and ended up taking a nap.”

Ewen chuckled, “Sabah spoils you, does she?”

“Oh, definitely,” James beamed, “She and her sister both tend to ply me with sweets at least once a week. I’m pretty sure all the weight I gain over the holidays comes from them.”

Ewen tilted his head slightly, tone of voice somewhat higher than his usual. “Sister?”

“You didn’t know?” James asked in surprise, “I thought it was common knowledge, but I guess it's just because I know the family so well. Miss Sabah has a younger sister. The girls are twins, so maybe you’ve seen Miss Rania around on campus and thought it was Miss Sabah.”

Ewen’s smile widened imperceptibly. “Twins, huh?” he muttered to himself as he collected his things. “I guess Sabah just forgot to mention it. Anyway, you were right. I should be heading home, so I’ll go ahead and get out of your way.”

“Have a good night, Moore.” James waved him off absently, more focused on dusting than watching Ewen leave.

Ewen stopped, laughing in maniacal derision, out in the hall, hand pressed against his eyes as he leaned against the wall to calm his breathing.

“Twins,” Ewen sneered, “You girls certainly love to play hide and seek, don’t you?”

Pushing himself upright, Ewen walked out of the museum, the shadows withering in his wake, climbing up the walls to whisper as he passed.

The whispers blended seamlessly into his headspace, embellishing his already muddled psyche.


End file.
